Funds Included In Budget To Repair, Replace Sea Walls

By Patrick Cronin

Hampton Union, Tuesday, July 12, 2005

[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]

HAMPTON -- A $2 million project to patch the crumbling sea wall at North Beach and to finish replacing the wall at Hampton Beach has received funding.

State Rep. Tom Gillick said the funding for the project was part of the state's capital budget, which was approved at their last session on June 29.

The budget has since been signed by the governor.

Residents who live at North Beach and at Hampton Beach have been complaining the sea wall is an eyesore and needs to be repaired.

"It's despicable," said Hampton resident Gerald Dignam. "There has been no maintenance and it is deteriorating. They let it go for so long and now it's ready to fall down."

Dignam was one of many who sent letters to all the state representatives in Hampton complaining about the condition of the sea wall.

He received a phone call from Hampton state Rep. Mike O'Neil that the funding was approved last week.

Tom Mansfield, department architect of the Department of Revenue and Economic Development, said it's a priority to fix the sea wall at Hampton Beach.

DRED completed the first 900 feet of the project two years ago at a price tag of $300,000.

The proposed project for this year is to finish reconstruction of the wall from Rocky Bend to the Seashell stage.

The project entails reinforcing the concrete and adding new railing.

Mansfield said it's so bad that one of the railings on the wall fell off and was swept out to sea last year. That section of the wall was replaced temporarily with Jersey barriers, which are used for highway lanes.

Mansfield said they plan to patch the sea wall on North Beach. "There is a lot of wear and tear," said Mansfield.

The wear and tear is caused by the salt water. The waves wash over the wall and the salt gets into the concrete, which causes it to corrode.